Happy New Year & New Moon to you!
Today, we reach back through time to find a short, yet potent, poem written 1000 years ago in Japan by the great Izumi Shikibu. In it, Skhikibu expresses what so many of us have felt standing underneath the moon.
Feel free to make yourself cozy & join me, as we roll this poem around in our hearts, minds, and bodies.
We’ll be sure to end with a Lunar Practice you can carry with you through the Moon Cycle! Let’s see what we find…
Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely, no part left out.
After you’ve taken in the poem & inquiry, in the comments here, I’d love to hear from you:
How did this poem and pondering land for you? What is one gem or learning you walk away with?
Can’t wait to read them. ♥️
Community Happenings:
↠ Wild Woman School is coming up on January 13th! For the next year, we will be exploring tools for spiritual autonomy, resilience, and creativity in changing & challenging times. Next Up: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice, online, from anywhere! If you can’t make it live, no worries, a recording will be sent to all participants. Claim Your Seat.
↠ In the depth of Winter, warm your Soul with our 4-week I M M E R S I O N. Join an group of 44 women, as we gather from our homes from around the world in the spirit of retreat! Enjoy Rituals, Music, Joy-making, Education, and Soulful community (with no “have-tos”)- Beginning February 7th! Learn More & Claim Your Seat.
↠ You’re Invited to attend a Wild Woman Project Circle. In these New Moon time circles, you can expect Meditation, Intention Setting, Ritual & Sharing, guided by a trained facilitator. Find a full list of TeleCircles here & find a list of online circles below:
Online New Moon Circles:
Thank you for listening today.
Wishing you a soul-nourishing New Moon time!
♥️ & Howls,
Chris Maddox
Founder of The Wild Woman Project & Wild Woman Fest
On the Horizon
Join an international, intergeneration group of weird and wonderful wild-hearted Women in our online Cave (which lives on an app)!
We meet weekly in Circles, Workshops, Practices to keep our wild spirits lit!
Upcoming Weekly Gatherings:
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on May 7th!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
Looking forward to practicing this daily moon—met moment. Happy New Year, Chris!
Yay! I hope it is fruitful! Much love to you, Demi. xo
I love the ambiguity of this poem, is it the moon or the writer who is standing solitary and mid-sky? The keys to this poem for me are the words solitary and mid-sky. It is when we are alone and in tune with nature, when all is still and quiet, that we can listen to our inner voice, our intuition and truly get to know ourselves. When we are standing under the immense, starry sky that we can ponder the universe and our place in it and put the events of our lives in perspective. This is a beautiful poem in its simplicity and deep meaning. Thank you for sharing it.
Loved seeing it through your eyes, Sandy. Thank you for sharing. xo
Thank you for the call for this daily practice. This poem is in strong alignment with what I have been feeling for this new moon. So fun to be aligned in the Magic.
Love to hear it. xo
I am struck by the word “watching”… and the possible attentiveness it implies… as opposed to “seeing” or “looking at” or “glancing at”
She is watching the moon, paying it attention, and knowing her self.
mmm…love the precision, Ashley. “Watching” Thank you for sharing. xo
Thank you for this lovely poem and practice! For me, it was “She saw herself completely…no part left out.” Like looking at the moon she saw the universe contained there…and realized that she too is the universe…It is all one… I am…
Love that perspective, Eileen. Thanks for sharing it. xo
She is admiring the moon,
with a blank stare
curiously, pondering
that is when she became aware
“that is when she became aware”
Thank you for that, Angel. xo
This is so previous ❤️
I will not be hosting a circle this month – however will send this to all my ladies for them to reflect on over this moon cycle .
Thank you 🙏🏾
I’m so glad to hear that. Much love to you, Lorraine. xo
Thank you, Chris. I really can relate to this poem. I love the simplicity & the depth. The morning moon always brings a smile to my face. The repetition brings a state of awe each time I speak the words.
The Morning Moon is so special, indeed. Thanks for sharing your reflections, Nancy. xo
The poem is beautiful, but it also makes me uncomfortable. I want to know myself completely, because I feel it’s there that one finds strength and growth.
As I work to discover who I am in my head, heart, and soul, I tend to focus on the things that fulfill me or bring me joy. I often forget to look at the underground parts, to use your plant analogy. Actually, I don’t forget… I avoid. And that’s what made me uncomfortable about this poem. It brings up, in the most gentle way, that all parts of my life need to be reconciled in order to know myself completely.
Programming note: Now, if you could just find a poem on how to do that reconciliation I would be eternally grateful. 😉
Well said, Coco. Tending to our underground parts can be uncomfortable, for sure. I think there is a hint in all of this: we may be able use art to help us reconcile all the parts – none left out.
Much love to you, dear. xo
As this moon cycle draws to a close I wanted to thank you for sharing this poem and practice with us. I held this poem close to my heart this past month, and while I didn’t remember to do it every day, I meditated on it several times a week and it really sunk into my bones. The middle of the poem spoke to me so powerfully – “at dawn”, “solitary”, “mid-sky” – because I have been in this space of transition and transformation for the past couple of years, where I have had the opportunity to sink into myself, go underground into the darkness and transmute much of the fear and pain that was buried in there. Finally I feel I am nearing the end of this chapter and stepping into my next evolution…and it was only possible because of that time spent in sacred solitude, in quiet devotion to myself. I am the Moon.
Watching Myself
In the in-between space,
Alone,
Suspended and exposed,
I know my Self completely,
No part left out.